Who is popular today?

Assembly George Square, EdinburghThere are few bells and whistles in Brian McElhaney and Nick Kocher’s fringe debut, just two seasoned US comics in effortless harmony with each otherHere’s the secret to ensuring your Edinburgh debut is a success: accrue 15 years’ experience before performing it. Brian McElhaney and Nick Kocher have written for SNL, piled up 50m online views and won sketch awards in the US. This maiden fringe outing, directed by the standup Alex Edelman and arriving in London this week, shows what the fuss is about. There are no bells and whistles – it unfolds with the easy swing of improv. The razzle-dazzle is all in the ideas, the jokes and the show’s intricate construction, as the sketches interweave with the story of their performance, and both are taken in surprising directions.The story of this performance is that Kocher has taken a vow of conjugal abstinence until his wedding, but that wedding has been indefinitely Covid-delayed. The resulting sexual frustration keeps threatening to hijack, and soon overwhelm, the show. This is not a credible conceit, and – as Kocher tries to snog McElhaney and molest the audience – can feel out of step with the sophistication of the material elsewhere. Or so I thought, until a late development invites one to consider these libidinous goings on from a new angle. Continue reading...